


What friends are for

by sagestra



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Nightmares, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24476926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagestra/pseuds/sagestra
Summary: Ron helps comfort Harry after a nightmare.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Ron Weasley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	What friends are for

Ron Weasley was, for once, sleeping peacefully. Grimmauld Place made that task sometimes very difficult. The house itself gave off a very dark feeling; it was rare to walk into a room and feel safe. However, he had been living there for the whole summer, and Ron had no choice but to endure it. Sleeping eventually did get better, for him & everyone else living there, but it took a bloody long time.

Tonight, Ron was in a very peaceful dream. Previously, his dreams had been darker in nature, but not this one. In it, he was picturing himself living his best life with a certain girl with bushy, brown hair. They were living in a secluded house, surrounded by woods. He rather enjoyed this thought.

Unfortunately for Ron, his dreams were interrupted by something next to him. Knowing it could be some sort of dark creature, he shot up right away, scanning the room for any disturbances. His eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness, so it was a useless effort. The noise, thankfully, had subsided, and therefore, Ron laid his head gently on the pillow below him.

As he did that though, he heard the same sound again. This time it was more audible, and didn't sound like any dark creature he had known. This time, he sat up more slowly and started listening intently. Nothing more was heard for the time being, but as his eyes adjusted, he saw the potential source of the noise.

On another bed that was mere feet away from his, Ron saw a figure sitting on the side of his bed, looking away from Ron. Now that his eyes were adjusted to the darkness, he knew that it was his best friend, Harry Potter. Suddenly, the noise was once again heard, only this time, it sounded like a sob. Ron was no Hermione, but he quickly put the pieces together.

"Harry?" Ron called out in a voice that was hardly bigger than a whisper. It must've been heard by Harry, as he looked behind him at Ron. Just as quickly as he looked at Ron, he looked away, letting out another sob.

With a burst of courage that only proved why he was a Gryffindor, he stood up & walked over to Harry's bed. He sat down on the other side of the bed, his back facing Harry's. Then, Ron swung his legs over the bed next to where Harry was sitting. Ron moved his body so he was sitting right next to Harry.

A silence then followed, which saw Harry continue to stare at the floor, and Ron to stare at Harry himself. The silence was only broken when Ron worked up even more courage to say "Mate, what's wrong?"

Harry did not respond, but he certainly did not look okay. Ron thought that, if his suspicions of what Harry was thinking about were true, it wasn't the first time this happened in the summer.

"Harry?" Ron asked very carefully. He knew that he needed to be careful in his approach with Harry; he probably wouldn't respond well to being relentlessly questioned.

He then looked up at Ron who, while sitting on the exact same level, was a fair bit taller than him. Ron saw the look in Harry's eyes: he was scared and upset. Ron put his right arm around Harry's neck, in an almost half hug. He felt like a big brother comforting a little brother after a nightmare.

He pulled Harry closer to him, and that might've been the last straw. As he neared Ron's shoulder, Harry seemed to burst out into tears. It was only made quieter by Harry crying on Ron's shoulder.

Ron was undoubtedly uncomfortable in this situation. He had little experience being a bigger brother, in the sense of comforting one of his siblings. Of course, he'd tried with Ginny after the Chamber incident, but he was rubbish compared to his parents. Ron tried to emulate his parents' past success, by simply calming Harry down. He'd occasionally whisper words of comfort to him.

Through Harry's cries & erratic breathing, Ron could make out of couple words. They were "My fault, I'm sorry, Cedric." Ron's earlier suspicions were proven true. Throughout the whole summer, Harry had been feeling guilty about Cedric Diggory's death & He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return. If only someone could've been there for Harry. Ron assumed that his muggle relatives sure weren't.

After he had calmed down, Harry leaned away from Ron's shoulder and back to his former sitting position, only this time, he stared directly at Ron.

"Sorry a-about your shirt," he said in a very small voice.

" 's alright, never liked it anyway." he got a sad smile from Harry which, at this moment, meant the world for him.

"Mate," Ron started after a few seconds. "Nothing that happened that night was your fault. If it wasn't for that Mad-Eye imposter..." His voice trailed off.

Ron thought to himself that, if he had said something helpful, it didn't look like it.

"I'm an idiot," Ron said under his breath before returning to look at Harry. "I'm awful at this. I can go get someone better if you want. I'm sure mum or Hermione would-"

Before Ron could finish, Harry had interrupted him. "Please stay." Ron's ears felt like they'd gone completely red. He didn't think what he was doing was helping, but nonetheless, he would stay if Harry wanted him too. Merlin, he'd do just about anything for Harry, and of course Hermione.

Ron wrapped his right arm around Harry again, and they both sat in silence, staring around the room and occasionally at each other. Harry's breathing seemed to become steadier compared to what it was just minutes ago. It wasn't unnerving at all. Within about 10 minutes Harry had complained of being tired, and Ron was too. They had returned their respective beds, and Ron had made sure Harry fell into a good sleep before he did.

The next day, he made sure to tell Hermione what had happened. Hermione was very proud of him and explained to him how Harry must've felt comfortable, which made Ron blush intensely. 

_ Honestly _ , he thought to himself the next night,  _ It's the least I can do for him _ .

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read this. Feedback of any sort is encouraged.


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